Fold-forming assembly for cloth spreading machine



Oct. 21, 1969 H, GRIMM ETAL 3,473,798

FOLD-FORMING ASSEMBLY FOR CLOTH SPREADING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 29, 1967 FIG.

I N VEN TORS IRA ZUCKERMAN HAROLD GRIMM ATTORNEY Oct. 21, 1969 H. GRIMM ETAL 3,473,798

FOLD-FORMING ASSEMBLY FOR CLOTH SPREADING MACHINE Filed Aug. 29. 1967 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS 1 RA ZUCKERMAN HAROLD GRIMM Oct. 21, 1969 GRlMM ETAL 3,473,798

FOLD-FORMING ASSEMBLY FOR CLOTH SPREADING MACHINE Filed Aug. 29, 1967 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 5o F\G.4

PIC-15 50 INVENTORS IRA ZUQKERMAN HAROLD GRIM M ilwl g ATTORNEY Oct. 21, 1969 GRIMM ETAL 3,473,798

FOLD-FORMING ASSEMBLY FOR CLOTH SPHEADING MACHINE Filed Aug. 29, 1967 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 50 F- G 7 I20 I N VEN 'IORS IRA ZUCKERMAN HAROLD GRIMM ATTORNEY United States Patent f 3,473,798 FOLD-FORMING ASSEMBLY FOR CLOTH SPREADING MACHLNE Harold Grimm, Bronx, and Ira Zuckerman, Far Rockaway, N.Y., assignors to Panther Machine Corp.,

New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Aug. 29, 1967, Ser. No. 664,055 Int. Cl. B65h 29/46 US. Cl. 270-31 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE In a cloth spreading machine having a carriage movable over a table surface between a pair of fold-retaining bars, a pair of fold-forming bars carried by links pivoted on said carriage, releasable latch means normally locking said fold-forming bars in lowered operated positions, each of the fold retaining bars being elevated by respective camming arms on the carriage as the latter approaches the fold retaining bar, and the latch means being located in the path of the elevated fold retaining bar, whereby the elevated fold retaining bar engages and releases the latch means for the fold-forming bar leading the bar upon which the cloth fold is formed, and the fold retaining bar pivots the released leading fold-forming bar upwardly to a clearance position, permitting the fold retaining bar to pass therebeneath and engage the cloth fold on the trailing fold-forming bar.

The invention relates to devices for spreading layers of sheet material one upon the other. For example, in the garment manufacturing industry layers of fabric are spread one upon the other on a suitable cutting table so that all of the superimposed layers can thereafter be simultaneously cut into predetermined configurations to form fabric sections which thereafter can be united into a given garment. Devices of this type are required to spread the layers in a very accurate manner where all of the layers will have precisely the same length and will be provided at their ends With accurately-registering, transversely-extending folds situated one upon the other. A carriage moves back and fourth along the cutting table while the layers of sheet material are spread thereon one upon the other, and this carriage is provided with foldforming bars around which the sheet material is guided so as to form a fold at the end of a layer of sheet material when the carriage reaches the end of one of its strokes and reverses its direction to move back along the next stroke. The fold-retaining means coacts with the bar which forms the fold at the end of a layer so as to retain this fold as this latter fold-forming bar moves away from the retaining means when the carriage reverses its direction of movement.

With structures of this type, the fold-forming bars are required to carry out functions which conflict with each other. Thus, on the one hand the leading fold-forming bar is required to be able to swing out of the way of the foldretaining means so that the latter can coact with the trailing fold-forming bar which engages the sheet material, while on the other hand both fold-forming bars are required to be precisely maintained in their operating positions when carrying a fold of cloth, so as to prevent undersirable displacement of the folds at the end of the layers and thus assure accurate positioning of the layers one upon the other, particularly at their ends.

While various devices have already been proposed for holding the fold-forming bars in their operating positions and at the same time giving them freedom of movement to clear the fold-retaining means, all of these devices are extremely complex and expensive and have not proved to be fully satisfactory.

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It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a structure which will avoid the above drawbacks of the known constructions.

In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide a relatively simple and inexpensive structure composed of rugged, reliably operating elements which on the one hand will guarantee that the fold at the end of the layer is precisely retained in the desired position to be engaged and retained by the fold-retaining means while at the same time providing in a highly reliable and exceedingly simple manner freedom of swinging movement of the fold-forming bars one toward the other upwardly away from their lower operating positions.

Another object of the invention is to provide for a construction of the above type a latching structure which will reliably retain the fold-forming bars in their lower operating positions and which at the same time will automatically respond to engagement with the fold-retaining means for releasing one of the fold-forming members for free swinging movement upwardly away from its lower operating position so that a fold-retaining means can coact with the other of the fold-retaining members.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a construction of the above type which is exceedingly compact, which occupies a minimum amount of space, and which does not require components of undesirably great weight to be mounted on the carriage means so that the latter can easily be moved when provided with the structure of the invention.

In accordance with the invention herein there is provided in a cloth spreading machine having a carriage which moves back and forth along a table surface in opposed operative strokes between a pair of spaced foldretaining members, a fold-forming assembly comprising a pair of fold-forming bars which have lower operating positions where they are horizontally disposed and located at the same elevation extending transversely across the layers of sheet material during the spreading thereof, and having, in their lower operating positions, inner foldforming edges which are directed toward each other. Support means mounted on the carriage supports the bars for respective swinging movement about axes which are parallel to the bars, these bars being swingable upwardly from their lower operating positions one toward the other, and said carriage carries a supply of sheet material which engages and forms a fold about the foldforming edge of the fold-forming bar which trails in the direction of movement of the carriage. The leading bar is advanced with the carriage means toward one of the fold-retaining members, and a pair of latch means are carried by the support means and respectively coact with the fold-forming bars for releasably latching them in their lower operating positions. The pair of fold-retaining members are respectively situated in the paths of movement of the pair of latching means, and the latching means which locks the leading fold-forming bar will respond to engagement with the corresponding fold-retaining member to automatically assume an unlatched position releasing the leading fold-forming bar for upward swinging movement toward the trailing fold-forming bar, whereby the fold-retaining member will have access to the trailing fold forming bar to engage the sheet material at the inner edge of the latter and retain a fold which is formed at the end of the layer at the instant when the carriage reaches the end of one stroke and reverses its direction of movement to move along the next stroke.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following specification when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through a spreading machine incorporating the fold-forming means of the invention, and showing the interior side of one of the side frames of the machine carriage;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged elevational view of the foldforrning means of the spreading machine shown in FIG. 1, with portions broken away and shown in section as taken along line 22 of FIG. 3, this view showing the structure at an instant when the carriage approaches the end of one of its strokes.

FIG. 3 is an end elevational view of the fold forming means shown in FIG. 2 with portions cut away and shown in section for clarity of illustration;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are enlarged elevational views similar to FIG. 2 but showing the position of the fold-forming means elements at successive further stages of movement of the carriage toward the end of its stroke;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged elevational view similar to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, but showing the elements of the foldforming means in their positions at the end of the carriage stroke; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged elevational view similar to FIG. 6, but showing the elements at the beginning of the next succeeding stroke of the carriage in the opposite direction.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is schematically illustrated therein a carriage 10 which has a pair of upright side frames 12, one of which is shown in FIG. 1. The frames 12 are connected in spaced relationship by cross bars 14 and respectively carry uprights 16 on which a spindle 18 is supported for rotatable movement, this spindle 18 carrying a roll of sheet material 20 which is to be spread.

The carriage 10 is moved back and forth to the right and left, as viewed in FIG. 1, upon the upper surface of table 22, by means of pairs of wheels mounted on each of the frames 12. The pair of wheels 28 mounted on frame 12 shown in FIG. 1 are adapted to roll upon the surface of table 22, while the opposite frame mounts a pair of flanged Wheels (not shown) which engage and are guided by a rail mounted on the table in the usual manner.

As the carriage 10 is advanced toward the left, as viewed in FIG. 1, it approaches a fold-retaining member 30 which is of conventional construction. Similarly, when the carriage 10 advances to the right, as viewed in FIG. 1, it will approach a fold-retaining member 32 which is identical with the retaining member 30 but oppositely oriented. As is well known, these fold-retaining members have pairs of spaced arms 34 situated adjacent the side edges of the table and connected at their free ends by a fold-engaging and retaining bar 36 which extends transversely across the table. These arms 34 and bars 36 are guided in a well known manner only for vertical movement, and the arms 34 carry at their outer surfaces rollers 38 for a purpose referred to below.

The sheet material 20 which is derived from the supply roll is guided around a transversely extending guide roller 40 mounted on carriage 10, with the sheet material passing between the side frames 12. From the roller 40 the sheet material is guided around an upper guide roller 42 and then downwardly to the fold-forming structure of the invention.

Referring now to FIG. 2, it will be seen that the sheet material 20 extends downwardly around the inner elongated folding edge 44 of a first elongated fold-forming bar 46 which extends transversely across the layers. The carriage 10 at this time is moving to the left, as indicated by the arrow 48 in FIG. 1, and the layer 50 of the sheet material 20 is spread out behind the carriage 10 as the latter advances toward the left fold-retaining member 30, shown in FIG. 1. The fold at the opposite right end of the layer 50 is held by the other fold-retaining member 32, shown at the right in FIG. 1.

The structure includes a second fold-forming bar 52 which extends transversely across the layers and which has an inner fold-forming edge 54, these fold-forming edges 54 and 44 of the bars 52 and 46 being respectively directed toward each other when these bars are in their lower operating positions indicated in FIG. 2.

Support means 56 are provided for supporting the fold-forming bars 52 and 46 and for permitting swinging movement of the latter one toward the other upwardly from their lower, vertically-disposed operating positions shown in FIG. 2. This support means 56 includes a pair of depending links 58, between the bottom ends of which the bar 46 is mounted, and a pair of depending links 60 between which the bar 52 is similarly mounted. Thus, FIG. 3 shows the pair of links 60 to which are fixed the ends of the bar 52 extending between these links, and a similar pair of links 58 carry the ends of the bar 46. At their upper ends, the links 60 are respectively mounted for swinging movement on a pair of coaxial pivot pins 62, which respectively extend through coaxial openings at the upper ends of the links 60. The pins 62 are mounted on bosses 64 which are formed integrally with and depend from the upper walls 66 of a pair of end housing units 68 of the support means 56 (FIG. 3), these end units including end walls 70. A similar pair of bosses 72, which are respectively aligned with bosses 64, carry a pair of coaxial pivots 74 extending through openings at the upper ends of the links 58. In this way the support means 56 supports the pair of bars 46 and 52 for respective swinging movement about the common axis of the pins 62 and the common axis of the pins 74, these axes being parallel to the axes of bars 46 and 52.

The housing units 68 have upper integral flanges 76 extending laterally outward therefrom, each flange 76 being slidably mounted on a pair of vertical guide bars 78 which are aflixed to the respective side frames 12. The guide bars 78 guide the support means 56 for vertical movement as the latter is raised in a conventional manner as layers of sheet material accumulate one upon the other on the surface of the table 22.

The fold forming bar 52 and its links 60 are normally locked in the lower operating position of FIG. 2 by latch means 86 mounted on the support means 56. Similarly, the fold forming bar 46 and its links 58 are normally locked in the lower operating position by latch means 88. The latch means 86 include a transverse latch bar 90 formed integrally with each end unit 68 and projecting laterally from the end wall 70 thereof. This stationary latch bar 90 of the latch means 88 is provided with an inner latching corner or edge 92 formed by an inclined inner end Wall 94.

The latch means 86 also includes a pair of movable latch members 96 in the form of elongated strips of metal formed in the region of their curved lower ends with openings through which pins 98 respectively extend, these pins having enlarged heads located in countersunk recesses 100 formed in the inner surfaces of respective lateral flanges 102 formed integrally with links 60. At an elevation higher than the pin 98, each movable latch member 96 is fixed to a pin 104 which extends slidably through an opening of the flange 102 and which has an enlarged head engaging the inner surface thereof. A spring 106 is coiled about the pin 104 between the flange 102 and the movable latch member 96 so as to urge the latter outwardly away from said flange. At its upper end each latch member 96 has a latching flange or jaw 108 capable of snapping over the top inner latching edge 92 of the latch bar 90.

The latch means 88 which coacts with the fold-forming bar 46 has a construction identical with the latch means 86, as is evident from FIG. 2, but of course the components thereof are oriented oppositely to the components or the latch means 86 so that the bar 46 can move oppositely to the bar 52.

Limiting means are provided for limiting the downward swinging movement of the bars 46 and 52 to their lower operating position shown in FIG. 2, while preventing movement of these bars away from each other beyond these lower operating positions. The limiting means which coact with the bar 52 take the form of a pair of threaded studs 110 which are threaded through tapped bores of the respective latch bars 90 and which carry lock nuts 112 to retain the limiting screws 110 in their adjusted positions. At their inner ends the screws 110, which are respectively aligned with the links 60, engage the outer edges of the latter, as is apparent also from FIG. 2.

The limiting means which coacts with the links 58 is identical with, but oriented oppositely from, the limiting means which coacts with the links 60.

Pivotally mounted on the end walls 70 of the units 68 are camming arms 114 whose upper edges are to be engaged by the rollers 38 on the fold-retaining members 30 and 32. At the regions of the upper ends of the camming arms 114 the walls 70 fixedly carry at their inner surfaces horizontal platforms 116. These platforms 116 act as continuations of the respective camming arms 114 and serve as tracks upon which the rollers 38 ride after the camming arms 114 have elevated the rollers 38.

Assuming now that the carriage is advancing to the left, as indicated by the arrow 48 in FIG. 1, while the fold-retaining member 32 retains the fold at the right end of the layer 50 which is being spread during this movement of the carriage 10, it will be seen that the carriage is approaching the fold-retaining member 30. At this time, both links 58 and 60 are locked in their vertical operative positions, and the bar 52 leads the bar 46, while the sheet material 20 is guided around the trailing bar 46 during spreading of the layer 50.

As the carriage approaches the end of its travel to the left, as viewed in FIG. 1, the rollers 38 of the fold-retaining means 30 engage the left camming arms 114 and ride along the upper surfaces thereof as these arms 114 travel to the left along with the entire carriage 10. In this manner, the rollers 38 elevate the arms 34 and the retaining bar 36 of the fold-retaining means 30. As a result, the fold-engagin g bar 36 of the fold-retaining means is situated in the path of movement of the movable latch members 96, and the latter upon engaging the bar 36 will respond automatically to be displaced toward flanges 102 in opposition to the springs 106 to cause unlatching of the latch means 86. FIG. 2 shows the rollers 38 approaching the upper end of the camming arms 114 and the retaining bar 36 at the instant in which it engages the movable latch members 96.

As the rollers 38 advance further up the camming arms 114, the carriage movement to the left causes the retaining bar 36 to depress the latch members 96 inwardly toward the link flanges 102. The latching jaws 108 of the movable latch members 96 are therefore disengaged from the latching edges 92 of the latch bars 90, thus automa ically releasing the leading fold-forming bar 52 for upward swinging movement away from its normally locked lower operating position. FIG. 4 shows the parts in unlocked position, with the links 60 in engagement with the elevated retaining bar 36 and being pivoted upwardly thereby.

As the carriage means 10 continues toward the end of its stroke, the fold-retaining means coacts with the released links 60 to swing the latter up to a substantially horizontal position, shown in FIG. 5, while the rollers 38 arrive at the horizontal platforms 116 and then approach the ends thereof to fall ofi these platforms as the carriage means 10 continues to advance toward the end of its stroke and has almost reached the end of its stroke. The result is that the fold-engaging bar 36 becomes situated to the right of the leading fold-forming bar 52 so that the latter together with its supporting links 60 can now swing back down to the operating position shown in FIG. 6, and the latching jaws 108 of the movable latching strips 96 are cammed along the inclined surface 94 of the latch bars 90 until they snap over the latching edge 92, thus latching bar 52 in its lower operating position, and of course, the limiting means 110 prevents movement of the bar 52 beyond its lower operating position.

Upon moving beyond the left platforms 116, the foldengaging bar 36 simply falls onto the trailing fold-forming bar 46 with the sheet material 18 engaged between the bars 36 and 46, as indicated in FIG. 6, and at this instant the carriage means 10 has reached the end of its leftward stroke and starts to move along its oppositelydirected stroke, as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 7. As the carriage means 10 advances now to the right, as viewed in FIG. 7, the told at the end of the layer 50 is engaged and retained by the bar 36, while the carriage means 10 continues to advance to the right, and now sheet material 18 is guided around the inner folding edge 54 of the fold-forming bar 52 to start a new layer 122.

Thus, while the latch means of the leading fold-forming bar is engaged and released to free the leading bar for upward swinging movement, it will be noted that the trailing fold-forming bar, which is engaged by the fabric, is retained by the latch means in its lower operating position. Thus, it is not possible for this trailing fold-forming bar to move and thus disturb or otherwise undesirably infiuence the precise location of the fold at the end of the layer of sheet material. Referring to FIG. 6, it will be seen that the bar 46 at this time is locked against pivoting movement forwardly or rearwardly and therefore as the retaining bar 36 draws the fold off bar 46, the latter will precisely maintain the fold at the end of the layer 50 at the desired location at the instant when the carriage means changes its direction of movement.

All of the above described operations take place at the right end of the table in connection with the fold-retaining means 32 and in connection with the bar 46 and the latching means which coacts therewith when the carriage reaches the end of its next stroke, so that the next layer will have its end fold precisely situated in accordance with the position of the fold-forming bar 52 onto which the fold-engaging member of the fold-retaining means 32 drops in the above described manner at the end of the next stroke of the carriage 10.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described herein, it is obvious that numerous omissions, changes and additions may be made in such embodiment without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a device for spreading layers of sheet material one upon the other, with the layers interconnected by folds at the opposite ends thereof, and including a carriage which moves back and forth along a table surface in 0pposed operative strokes between a pair of spaced fold-retaining members, a fold-forming assembly comprising a pair of fold-forming bars extending transversely of the layers for forming the folds at the ends thereof, said foldforming bars respectively having lower operating positions where they are horizontally disposed at the same elevation, and said bars having inner fold-forming edges directed toward each other, support means mounted on said carriage and supporting said bars for swinging movement one toward the other respectively about axes parallel to said bars upwardly away from said lower operating positions thereof, said carriage carrying a supply of sheet material which engages and forms a fold about the trailing fold-forming bar in respect to the direction of movement of the carriage, with the opposite, leading foldforming bar being free of said sheet material, and a pair of latch means carried by said support means and respectively latching said fold-forming bars against swinging movement one toward the other upwardly from their lower operating positions, said fold-retaining members being situated in the path of movement of the respective latch means for the leading fold-forming bar and the latter latch means responding to engagement With the fold-retaining member for automatically assuming a release position releasing the leading fold-forming bar for swinging movement upwardly away from its lower operating position so that the fold-retaining member will displace the leading fold-forming bar to a location where the said fold-retaining means has access to the trailing fold-forming bar to engage the fold of sheet material thereon.

2. An assembly according to claim 1 in which said pair of latch means respectively automatically assume latching positions preventing movement of said fold-forming bars one toward the other upon return of said fold-forming bars to their lower operating positions.

3. An assembly according to claim 2 in which said support means includes links fixed to and extending upwardly from the respective fold-forming bars, and support units supporting said links for respective swinging movement together with said fold-forming bars about said axes.

4. An assembly according to claim 3 in which said links respectively have outer faces which are directed away from each other, and said pair of latch means respectively include movable latch members carried by said links at said outer faces thereof and stationary latch members carried by said support means and engaged by said movable latch members when said pair of latch means are in their latching positions, each of said fold-retaining members being situated in the path of movement of a respective latch member for engaging and displacing the latter away from the corresponding stationary latch member in response to movement of said carriage means toward said fold-retaining member, to release for swinging movement the leading fold-forming bar as said carriage means approaches the end of one of its strokes.

5. An assembly according to claim 4 in which said stationary latch members are respectively in the form of latch bars facing the outer faces of said links, and said movable members of said latch means include elongated strips respectively movable toward and away from said outer faces of said links, and spring means urging said strips away from said outer faces, said elongated strips having upper ends for latching over upper edges of the respective latch bars.

6. An assembly according to claim 5 in which each link carries a lower pin guiding the mounted latch memher for movement in the region of its lower end toward and away from said link, and an upper pin around which a spring is situated between the outer face of the link and the movable latch strip for urging the top end thereof into engagement with the latching edge of the corresponding latch bar.

7. An assembly accordance to claim 6 in which opposed pairs of cam arms are respectively connected to said support means for respectively camming the fold-retaining members up into engagement with the elongated strip of the latch means engaging the leading fold-forming bar.

8. An assembly according to claim 7 in which the foldretaining member which has been cammed into engagement with the latch means of the leading fold-forming bar, clears said fold-forming bar and the links carrying the same as the fold-retaining member engages the fold on the trailing fold-forming bar, such that the leading fold-forming bar can swing back down to its lower operating position to be latched in the latter position when the carriage reverses its direction of movement, the previously leading fold-forming bar then becoming the trailing fold-forming bar and holding the sheet material on the table surface while moving away from the fold-retaining bar.

9. An assembly according to claim 5 which also includes limiting means coacting with said fold-forming bars for limiting downward swinging movement thereof past their lower operating positions, said limiting means including rotary screw members threaded through said latch bars and having, inwardly beyond the latter, free ends which engage said links.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,795,416 6/1957 Bax 2703l 3,051,475 8/1962 Kibler et a1 270--5l 3,112,107 11/1962 Theodosiou 2703l 3,141,665 7/1964 Gilbert 27(),3 l

LAWRENCE CHARLES, Primary Examiner 

